Return To Pooh Corner
by Jessi84
Summary: This is the fourth installment of the Aaron-Series. Thanks to Melanie who gave her Okay and let me write this one on my own. Please enjoy and tell me what you think. The song doesn't belong to me, but to Kenny Loggins.


**Return to Pooh Corner**

Evening found the Caine family in the living room, watching the last scenes of Walt Disney's Mary Poppins. Aaron was sitting in the middle of the couch, surrounded by his parents, who were sitting at his left and right side.

Horatio was the master of the popcorn bowl, while Calleigh had the power over the remote control. Aaron all the while, was snuggled against his mother's side, resting his head very carefully on Calleigh's already big swollen belly.

When the baby had kicked for the first time, he'd been a bit shocked and frightened, but this had quickly changed. Now he and his dad were enjoying it to play with the baby, which literally meant that the carefully pressed their hands on the small bulges due to fists and feet and laughed when the bulges disappeared for a moment and appeared somewhere else.

This was for now the only way to play with his little brother or sister, but Aaron didn't mind at all. One day he had told Alexx about his theory that his mommy had eaten the baby, so it would be in her tummy, and since Alexx had readily agreed with that, he was more comfortable with the thought that there would be soon another member of the family. Days like today, where the attention was centered on him alone, supported his positive feelings about the baby.

"Why is Mary leaving?" he asked when Mary Poppins left the Banks and flew away with her umbrella.

"Because she has to help other children, like she did with Jane and Michael," Calleigh explained. "The family is now much happier, than when she'd arrived and this means that it's time for her to go."

"Hmm," the boy mumbled and slid a bit upwards on Calleigh's belly. "Can we also jump into a picture?" he then asked.

"Sadly, but no," Calleigh smiled and ran her fingers through his blond strands.

"But it would be great if we can, right partner?" Horatio chimed in and put the bowl onto the coffee table.

"Yeah," the boy sighed. This would be really awesome. "And they were floating in the air, when they were laughing."

"Too bad we can't do that. Would make driving to the lab much easier," Horatio chuckled and felt a slight kick against his leg. "Stop that," he smiled at his wife, who rolled her eyes at him. "What? It's true," he countered and playfully tried to grab the remote control, but Calleigh was quicker.

"Nah, nah hands off, Mr. Caine," she warned him and turned off the TV when the DVD menu appeared on the screen.

"Aaron you should never give a woman the remote, she'll never give it back," he told his son, who just grinned at him.

"Okay, Daddy," he agreed and snickered when he heard a 'haha' coming from his mom.

"Your Daddy is wrong about that Sweetie," Calleigh started. "Only cheeky boys won't get the remote again, like your father," she winked at her son.

"That's pretty mean and a lie, Cal," Horatio huffed and stood up. Slowly he made his way to the DVD Player and removed the DVD. "So what are we watching now?"

"A little boy going to bed, because it's already past his bedtime," Calleigh answered and laughed at Aaron's reaction.

"Oh no, please," he begged and did his best expression of a puppy dog face.

"Your Mom is right about that partner, it's already late and you need to get up early tomorrow," Horatio agreed with his wife.

"But I'm not even tired," the boy argued back and quickly thought of something, so he didn't have to sleep immediately. "Can you read me a story, Daddy? Please??"

Horatio just sighed and ducked his head. Aaron was definitely his mother's son. He had so much energy that it was sometimes really difficult to tire him out and send him to bed. "First of all you're getting ready for bed, which means wash your hands, face and brush your teeth, buddy. Then we'll see if I read you a story, okay?" And since he was his mother's son, Horatio had a difficult time to refuse him anything.

"YAY!" the youngster cheered and jumped off the couch. He quickly emptied his glass and ran to the stairs.

"No running in the house, Aaron," Horatio called after him and added in an after thought, "and take 3 minutes for your teeth, that's important. Otherwise there will be no story."

"Okay, Daddy," the boy called back and made his way upstairs.

With a sigh Horatio turned his head towards his wife, who was smirking at him. "What?"

"You do realize that he has wrapped you around his little finger, don't you?" she asked.

Horatio just rolled his eyes. "Tell me something I don't know."

Calleigh laughed and slowly stood up from the couch. "And I'm pretty sure that it will be the same thing with this one here, hm?" she asked and pointed at her belly.

"There might be chance," he replied and walked to her. "But it's not my fault."

"Really? So whose fault is it?"

"Yours actually."

"Mine? Why's that?"

"Because," he started and wrapped his arms around her, "Aaron learned from you and so will the baby. As if I have any chance to escape from your wonderful, hearty nature."

"Charmer," she smiled at him and enjoyed the little peck on her lips immensely. As much as she loved being pregnant, the fact that she couldn't cuddle with her husband as they normally did, was somehow a disadvantage.

"Mhm, did it work?" he asked mischievously.

"As if you don't know the answer to that," she winked at him. "But now it's time to turn off the charming and turn on your reading skills," she continued and broke their lose embrace.

"Wanna join us?" he suggested and took her hand in his.

"Nope, I think I will go to the nursery to put some clothes into the cabinets," she shook her head and followed him.

"Calleigh," he started and she immediately recognized this worried tone in his voice.

"Horatio, I'm just pregnant, not sick. I can manage that," she made it clear. "And clothes aren't heavy. So don't worry about it."

"I will always worry about you," he stated, but knew better than to argue with her. Until now her mood swings had been quite rare so he didn't want to push his luck. Plus, the nursery was next to Aaron's room; which meant that he could literally keep an ear on her.

"I know you do," she sighed softly and gave him a sweet smile, before she continued climbing up the stairs. The fact that he was always worrying about the people he loved was one of the reasons why she'd fallen in love with him. Of course, sometimes it was a bit annoying when he went too far, but all in all, it was one of the aspects that made him the man she loved with all her heart. She wouldn't tell him though, because then he would use it for his advantage. Married life was sometimes a bit tricky, but this made it also so interesting.

Upstairs, their ways parted, when Calleigh entered the nursery and Horatio made a few more steps before he stopped in front of his son's room door. Slowly he opened the door and peeked inside, noticing that Aaron was already lying in bed. "You ready, Buddy?"

"Yes, Daddy," the boy gave him a toothy grin, which made Horatio chuckle.

"Did you brush your teeth like I told you?"

"Yes, Daddy," he nodded quickly. "And I washed my hands, too. See?" he added proudly and showed Horatio his hands.

"Very good," Horatio praised him and sat down on the stool next to the youngster's bed. "Then I'd say you deserve a story. Have already picked one out?"

"Yes, this one here," the boy readily replied and showed him the book, he had hidden underneath his blanket.

"Okay, let's see what we have here," Horatio mumbled to himself and reached for his reading glasses in his breast pocket. He hated the fact that he needed them, since it meant that he was getting old, but he hated it even more, when his wife or friends were chiding him when he tried to read something without them. Comments like "I can walk to the other side of the room so you can read it" or "I don't think your arms are long enough any more" had finally made him giving in and going to the eye doctor, who had prescribed him the glasses.

"The Return To The Hundred Acre Wood?" he read out the title and smiled at his son, who was already cuddling with his own Pooh.

"Yeah," Aaron whispered and looked expectantly at his father.

"Then Return To The Hundred Acre Wood it is," Horatio smiled and carefully opened the old book.

_**Christopher Robin and I walked along**_

_**Under branches lit up by the moon**_

_**Posing our questions to Owl and Eeyore**_

_**As our days disappeared all too soon**_

_**But I've wandered much further today than I should**_

_**And I can't seem to find my way back to the Wood**_

"_Who started it? Nobody knew. One moment there was the usual Forest babble: the wind in the trees, the crow of a cock, the cheerful water in the streams. Then came the Rumour: Christopher Robin is back!"_ he started to read and leaned back against the backrest. His legs were crossed and his glasses were resting on his nose.

_**So help me if you can**_

_**I've got to get back**_

_**To the House at Pooh Corner by one**_

_**You'd be surprised**_

_**There's so much to be done**_

_**Count all the bees in the hive**_

_**Chase all the clouds from the sky**_

_**Back to the days of Christopher Robin and Pooh**_

"_Owl said he heard it from Rabbit, and Rabbit said he heard it from Piglet, and Piglet said he just sort of heard it, and Kanga said why not ask Winnie-the-Pooh? And since that seemed like a Very Encouraging Idea on such a sunny morning, off Piglet trotted, arriving in time to find Pooh anxiously counting his pots of honey. _

"_Isn't it odd?" said Pooh,"_ he continued and smiled when his son giggled at his 'Pooh The Bear' imitation.

""_Isn't what odd?" _

_Pooh rubbed his nose with his paw. "I wish they would sit still. They shuffle around when they think I'm not looking. A moment ago there were eleven and now there are only ten. It is odd, isn't it, Piglet?""_ he turned to the next page and just enjoyed the closeness to his son. The way Aaron was hanging on his every word, the small giggles he made because of Horatio's different voices or the dialogues in the book and the questions Aaron had about the characters and the wood itself, made Horatio's heart melt.

_**Winnie the Pooh doesn't know what to do**_

_**Got a honey jar stuck on his nose**_

_**He came to me asking help and advice**_

_**And from here no one knows where he goes**_

_**So I sent him to ask of the Owl if he's there**_

_**How to loosen a jar from the nose of a bear**_

He dearly wished that he could spend much more time with his son. He wasn't the workaholic any longer of course, but still…sometimes he wished that he could just stay at home with his son and spend the day with him. That was one of the reasons why the weekends were now sacred for him, since it was the only part of the week where he could be there for his family unconditionally. And even though he sometimes acted as if he didn't want to read Aaron a story, it actually really was just...an act. He loved it so much, especially since it reminded him of his own childhood.

_**It's hard to explain how a few precious things**_

_**Seem to follow throughout all our lives**_

His mother had always read him a story when he'd been in Aaron's age. Sometimes she had needed to do it in secrecy, because his father had been against such 'sissy' things, and sometimes she had done it openly, when his father hadn't been at home, getting terribly drunk in some waterhole. As sad and bad as this may sounded, it was also one of his fondest memories of his childhood.

And when he was looking at his son now, lying in bed asleep with a small smile on his face, he wanted to thank his mother all over again, for showing him how wonderful the life as a parent could be. He wanted to thank her for the fact that she'd always showed him her love for him and telling him that it wasn't wrong to show affection openly. And most of all he wanted to thank her for the fact, that she'd always read him a story in bed; no matter how tired she was, no matter how furious his father was and no matter how often she'd read the story before. She had just smiled at him, had sat down in bed with him and had started to read.

And now it was him reading a story to his own son and in a few weeks, he would be the father of two children and once the baby of the family would be old enough he would read him or her a story too. And no matter how often he would read the same story, he would never grow tired of seeing the big eyes of his children, shining with love that try to stay open, while they struggle with sleep.

_**After all's said and done I was watching my son**_

_**Sleeping there with my bear by his side**_

Carefully he closed the book and stood up to put it back in to the book shelf. Grinning he read the titles of the different books and wondered if his son would be a bookworm in the future, just like he and Calleigh themselves. _"You just have to wait and see, Horatio,"_ he said to himself and walked to his son's bed.

_**So I tucked him in, I kissed him and as I was going**_

Slowly he tucked him in, kissed his forehead and stroked the old bear's fur. It had been a present for his birth, some friend of his mother had given it to her when she'd found out about her friend's pregnancy and from day one, this bear had been by his side. It had been his confident when things had gotten ugly in his family. It had been his savior when the world had been dark around him with no light at the end of the tunnel. It was one of the few things he still owned of his childhood and now he hoped that the bear would keep an eye on his son like he'd done it with him.

_**I swear that the old bear whispered "Boy welcome home"**_

Quietly he walked to the door, opened it and stepped out into the hall. With one last glance he looked at his son and at the bear that was watching over him. "Welcome home, Pooh."

_**Believe me if you can**_

_**I've finally come back**_

_**To the House at Pooh Corner by one**_

_**What do you know**_

_**There's so much to be done**_

_**Count all the bees in the hive**_

_**Chase all the clouds from the sky**_

_**Back to the days of Christopher Robin**_

_**Back to the ways of Christopher Robin**_

_**Back to the days of Pooh**_

THE END


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